2002 release. Ascend, the title of Manual's second album, shows the way this music is going. At any time it is uplifting in a melancholic way, it directs into the inner self or into some far distant nowhere. All these emotional paradoxes stand in a tradition of many a great sound-sculptor starting with 4AD-acts such as Cocteau Twins, the swathing surrealism of My Bloody Valentine, the intense lethargy of Talk Talk up to the sheer beauty of Slowdive. With these traditions in mind, the music is carefully transferred into here and now while never losing a certain sunken quality. All those soothing, opalescent sounds may come from out of old analog synthesizers, but Jonas' indie-heart is still beating on the right side. One or the other subtle guitar part bears witness to that. Same goes for Limp, Jensen's other project in which he shares his vision with three friends to follow a similar path with different measures. Their debut album Orion is the perfect companion to Manual's body of work.